News in Brief 8 June 2015 (AM)

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon delivers remarks at the official inauguration of the extension building of the World Conference Centre Bonn in Germany. UN Photo/Rick Bajornas

Germany thanked for supporting sustainable development

The Chancellor of Germany, Angela Merkel has been thanked by the UN Secretary-General for her strong support for sustainable development.

Ban Ki-moon met with the German leader at Schloss Elmau, Germany where leaders of the Group of 7 industrialized countries are holding a summit.

He called on the country to continue its leadership in delivering on the post-2015 agenda and lauded Germany's crucial role towards reaching a meaningful, universal agreement on climate change in Paris in December.

President of Costa Rica inaugurated as ITU Patron for Youth

President Luis Guillermo Solís Rivera of Costa Rica was on Monday inaugurated as the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) Patron for Youth at a special ceremony in Geneva.

The ITU says this builds on a youth summit it organized in San José, Costa Rica in 2013.

Young participants from around the world called on governments to provide more flexible, dynamic and open means of governance to reach more people more easily than presently possible.

Impact of Syria crisis on Lebanon discussed in Tehran

The impact of the Syria crisis on Lebanon is one of the issues that the senior UN envoy Sigrid Kaag discussed with Iranian officials on Monday.

The UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon met with Iranian Foreign Minister the Advisor on International Affairs to the Supreme Leader, and the Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs.

The UN says the visit to Tehran took place in the context of the Special Coordinator's regular regional outreach.